About My FMP

The Final Major Project (FMP) is the last project I complete as a Game Art Design student at De Montfort University. It involves writing my own brief and then completing the tasks I have set out for myself in 20 weeks. The outcome is 60% of my third year marks.

I am basing my FMP on the writings of Robin Hobb, a fantasy author whose books I have been reading for years. More specifically, the books centring around the characters ‘The Fool‘ and FitzChivalry Farseer; the Fitz/Fool books, as they have become more colloquially known.

The trilogy that started it all.

I completely fell in love with these books from a young age, and having now read them 3 times, I feel that I know both the characters and the world they live in like I am a part of it all. If you are a fantasy lover and have not read Robin Hobb’s books, I urge you to pick up a copy of Assassin’s Apprentice if you can.

Though it is the characters that I have come to adore, as an environment artist it’s the places they go that really paint a picture in my head. I want to see those places come to life. I contacted Hobb with trepidation about my idea, and came away the following morning with her best wishes to go ahead. I’m over the moon and completely terrified, and can’t wait to see what I can create based on worlds that have been firmly fixed in my imagination for 7 years.

The books take the form of 3 trilogies that run chronologically, though the final book is yet to be released. I have chosen 3 locations within these 8 books (which was a tough task indeed!), and I will be creating 3D game art dioramas based on them. You can view the text excerpts about my chosen locations from the ‘About my FMP’ tab above.

To fulfil my wishes for this project, my diorama outcomes will need to feel alive and draw in the viewer; I will consider everything from sound effects to colour to animation. I want them to visually stand out with beautiful colour palettes and textures, and show good knowledge of traditional art theories such as composition, colour, value, and atmosphere. I hope the viewer will remember them just as I remember creating them.